In 1979, "Alien" was unleashed upon the world, and the sci-fi/horror genre immediately had a new classic on its hands.
Directed by relative newcomer (at that time) Ridley Scott, "Alien" took the world by storm and was the first of several sequels and prequels that would be released pretty regularly throughout the years.
Excluding the films with "Predator" in the titles (the less said about those movies, the better), these entries essentially covered the same mythology, worlds, and characters that began with the original film, hatched from the minds of screenwriters Ronald Shusett, Walter Hill, and the late, great Dan O'Bannon.
After the original "Alien" came James Cameron's "Aliens" (which I find extraordinarily overrated), David Fincher's "Alien3" (which I find extraordinarily underrated), and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection" (which is rated just about right).
All of these movies featured Sigourney Weaver's character, Ellen Ripley, at the center of the action and plots, and, for the most part, they are all worth seeing for varied reasons.
Then, the minimally talented Ridley Scott reared his ugly head again and returned to the series to provide two of the worst sci-fi films ever made: "Prometheus" (which is truly unwatchable) and "Alien: Covenant" (which is slightly better but still barely watchable).
Scott's pathetic attempts to expand the "Alien" universe and provide more context, backstory, philosophy, and grand ideas failed on every level. The result is two of the most distracting, messy, and unbelievably pretentious slogs I've ever sat through.
Well, it's been seven years since the disaster that was "Alien: Covenant," and even though no one asked for it, we now have a new film in the series, "Alien: Romulus," and, thankfully, Ridley Scott did not direct it.
Instead, the man at the helm is the enormously talented, brilliant craftsman Fede Alvarez, who also co-wrote the script.
Alvarez's very impressive credits include the outstanding "Evil Dead" reboot from 2013, the brilliant thriller "Don't Breathe," and the terrific chapter in the Lisbeth Salander series, "The Girl in the Spider's Web." Very simply...this guy is the goods.
The story here occurs 20 years after the original film (and before all the other movies). It strips away all the complicated nonsense that kept getting added to the sequels to make them seem more "important."
It's essential to remember that despite the setting, the vast visuals, and the political ideas, the first film is basically a scary monster-loose-in-the-house variant, nothing more.
Alvarez smartly brings the franchise back to the basics: a few characters (who we identify with and like) are stuck in a scary place trying to survive being attacked by horrifying creatures...that's it.
The plot here involves a group of renegade space colonizers who work for the oppressive "company" as they raid a derelict spacecraft (the Nostromo from the original) for equipment that will trigger their freedom from their sad, dark world.
Of course, they find the remains of the ship AND some horrifying alien creatures still on board (along with one of the most memorable characters from the first movie), and the terrifying action begins.
This ragtag group must survive the intense attacks from these menacing, shape-shifting monsters, while dealing with personality conflicts (and, of course, the complications of an AI robot in their midst) while figuring out how to get home safely.
It's simple. It's brilliant. And it's the best "Alien" movie in the franchise since the original from 1979....easily.
This film is incredibly tense, exceedingly clever, and scary as hell. The effects (the majority of which are practical and NOT CGI) are outstanding, and the construction and execution of the action set-pieces are a wonder to behold.
We are in the hands of a master filmmaker here, and Alvarez's obvious love and respect for the original movie is evident in every single frame.
This is clearly a filmmaker who loves this world and the story and is having a field day scaring the shit out of the audience while providing refreshing twists, jaw-dropping surprises, and some of the most intense suspense you will see in any movie this year.
The terrific cast, led by the extraordinary Cailee Spaeny (who was incredible in Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla") and the gifted David Jonsson (as the android character) do a magnificent job guiding the audience through the haunted house.
The terrifying sequences of horror and suspense jump off the screen, especially during the absolutely batshit crazy, mind-blowing final 20 minutes, which feature a sequence of such original strangeness and creepy execution that it absolutely compares to the groundbreaking "chest-burster" scene from the first film. It is a jaw-dropping moment of sheer fright that can't be forgotten.
The only flaw I found in the film was a bit too much fan service and a couple of annoying callbacks to the other sequels, but that's to be expected, especially with this series.
Other than that, this is an outstanding sci-fi/horror movie that provides thrills, exciting action, suspense-filled situations, and terrifying moments that I couldn't stop thinking about afterward.
"Alien: Romulus" is not only a worthy chapter in this storied franchise, but it is one of the year's best films and an extraordinarily effective piece of genre filmmaking by a gifted man who, with this movie, has cemented his reputation as one of the best directors working today.
All hail Fede. All hail "Alien: Romulus."
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